Yes, the leaders were so obsessed to have the lay members believe that the rock in the hat was anti Mormon lies. This destroyed peoples lives. The church leaders are nothing short of a bunch of turds blocking a toilet bowl that seriously needs a good flush.
Now if he had actually found valuable metals and treasure on a regular basis then he wouldn't be deceiving people nor swindling them out of their money. But at the same time, if he reliably found riches in the ground, he wouldn't need to go into that business to begin with. At least not for the purpose of making a living.
Treasure digging is such an obvious fraud. Paying someone to find actual treasure for you on your property!? Treasure that's worth magnitudes more than what you paid the seer to find? It's just too obvious. I really think Joseph Smith, in his experience in selling this service to people, came to witness the true extent of peoples' gullibility. And when he produced the Book of Mormon, he knew he could persuade people to believe it was a real historical book about the Native American's ancient ancestors, because he had persuaded people on less.
Great inaugural episode! While I love the MS podcast, I think these smaller bites will be so helpful for people who are looking for immediate information as opposed to longer narratives. As someone who was always told to avoid that “John Dehlin guy... he’s just spreading false information”, I’m so glad I didn’t listen. One of the things I respect about you is your willingness to share information in a respectful manner. I also appreciate that you always say things like, “Don’t take my word for it. Check everything I say.” Looking forward to more episodes here!
I really enjoyed the live stream today. It was we'll put together, and the slides were great. What JS said to Isaac Hale, in tears, is profound to the story. I wonder what actually pushed him to write the BoM, could it have been the discovery of a manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding with some of the BoM on it? I know that's unlikely but I'm curious if there was a trigger event that caused him to change his focus.
My thought on this is that the view of the Hebrews was published in 1823 and sold very well.... its interesting that Joseph likely heard of the success and coincidently in 1823 said the angel Moroni came to him about his own special “ancient” record. I think the thought of writing a book similar to Ethan Smiths View of the Hebrews has the potential to bring him all the riches he never found in the ground with his peep stone. Plus according to Grant Palmers book an insiders view to early Mormon origins, Joseph answers all of the great Universalist questions his father had along with all the other questions from other sects at the time. Joseph’s immature mind thought people would eat it up. Too bad he didn’t look in his peep stone first to see that it wouldn’t sell.... oh wait he never could see anything in the first place!
Good presentation John , I like that you don't come across as too "anti mormon" The treasure digging Prophet highlighted also ,the father, Joseph Smith senior was the instigator of the money digging . Father Smith is also accredited to being a story teller, treasure seeker , school teacher. The BofM began with Father Smith ( a Universalist) and I believe he actually worked with making wooden barrel casks with hoop iron and a mock set of golden plate.
Well done! Would live to see three more short, concise, and impactful videos...the first on the Book of Abraham, the second on BoM DNA, and the third on the First Vision controversy.
I really enjoyed this format. Nice, concise, understandable. It is not condescending, which I think is really important for sharability. I look forward to future content.
Many years ago I pointed all of this out to some LDS missionaries but they dismissed it simply as anti -Mormon propaganda. Strange how the Church now admits some of this.
I recently came out to family as a non-believer with the help of Gift of a Mormon Faith Crisis podcasts. When and if it's appropriate, how can we share this as a way of communicating with friends and family?
Hi Ben, I was just talking to my wife about this. We, like you, just left Mormonism earlier this year. The problem is (and I experienced this first hand) is that when people are faced with evidence and facts that contradict their belief system the backfire theory kicks in strongly. Ultimately they will discard the facts and evidence and hold even more tightly to their original beliefs. Unless the person has some shelf items or cracks in the “armor of God” they will come up with the most ridiculous ways to explain the issues. While on our journey out of the church we actually brought 2 other families in our ward with us. The conversation with them started with, have you heard of the church’s new gospel topics essays??? If yes, it is a much easier conversation as a starter with the issues and opens the gate to sharing Mormon stories poscasts and now this wonderful new channel.
Sean McMaster Thanks for the insights. I think my family doesn't have a very nice opinion of John so I don't think it would be a good idea to start here. When they ask about what made me leave I invite them to read the gospel topics essays, click on all the footnotes and read those as well.
Hey Ben, I totally understand where you are coming from. I haven’t shared anything outside of gospel topics essays to family either because they are still very TBM. My wife actually lost her testimony first and continued to try and share this info with me. At first the backfire theory and cognitive dissonance was very strong and I went into super apologetic mode because I’ve always had a solid testimony. After a couple of months I could see the issues my wife had were not going away. I was then forced to do my own research to prove it was still true. After about 6 months of reading tons of books/articles/podcasts and everything in between about church history and doctrine, I was convinced it was not true. I had to at some point acknowledge I could be wrong and I think this is when facts and evidence started to take hold. It’s hard to deal with people who have an emotional connection to something unless they accept they could be wrong and that feelings can’t be the best way to determine if something is true or not. You have to live in reality at some point and acknowledge the church has been very deceitful. This is what hurt me the most when I realized the blatant lies and withholding of truth over the years from its members.
@@seanmcmaster2436 The backfire effect. Wow, it's so crazy to see in person. My wife is a TBM through, and through. And this is exactly what happened with her. Four years ago I told her I no longer believe, and gave some reasons, and that's all it took. She dove headfirst into the church and is deeper than ever. It's horrible.
I love seeing actual pictures of Martin Harris. Compared to "artist interpretations", it's not even close. While he may have been a good businessman, he was a loon, and totally looks the part. But that's not very "faith promoting" is it?
Bill W. from Ohio was a good businessman too. He was definitely a loon. But Bill founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. Looking at Martin Harris he resembles a number of us that still do meetings.
John, I think you did quite well. however, in an attempt to make it appeal a little more to those who are still not sure and even fill a little guilty for even searching for truth outside of the LDS approved materials, I think it would be more beneficial if you approached the evidence in a more neutral manner. What I mean as an example, at one point in you video you said “if you don’t believe me...” and then went on to give your evidence. Not that there is anything wrong with you or your evidence, just simply by method of the delivery, one may take offense by you saying “if you don’t believe me” because it almost sounds accusative as if you are already accusing them of their thoughts. This is only one example of the style that you used, and not a criticism of you personally. You asked for meaningful feedback, and that is what my comments here are, and I hope you will take it as such. I have followed many of your interviews on Mormon Stories for a few years now, and I appreciate them, as well as the way you go about just seeking the truth. I look forward to future episodes of your new RUclips channel, and I hope that they will be done in a humble manner for lack of a better word right now, because I have family that I can’t get through to right now because they are soo unsure and I presume filled with guilt for even thinking about questioning what they have been taught, family who I would love to say “hey, why don’t you check out this short video” and then send them to your videos. I’m rambling at this point, so I’ll just say thanks for all you have done. Though you don’t know it, your podcasts helped me through my struggles when my shelf broke. Thank you!!
Um, I think John essentially did a good job at trying to present such incriminating information about Joseph Smith in a fair way...all things considering.
I honestly find Joseph Smith much more interesting just as himself and not as a prophet or fraudster. Just as someone who had an interest in pirates, treasure hunting, and in the occult. Then he had to go ruin it and reach for more and more which led to forming the church.
The church tried hard to portray Joseph Smith as a farmboy, pushing the narrative away from seer stone gazing and glasslooking. There is a common theme within the LDS church to present founding individual's vocations as nothing unusual. The transparency of the LDS church is at the least questionable.
My uncle is a "local Mormon apologist", and he knows ALL of this LDS historical information. Whenever I share this kind of stuff with him, he snores and says it's old news. He asks me: "BUT does any of this this even matter? Can God still use Joseph Smith to do His work and save souls? Do prophets need to be 'perfect' in order to hear God's voice and revelations?" What do you say to that kind of response? Thanks
Surely you are not trying to suggest that Joseph Smith who had his First Vision in 1820 would engage in occult practices like these. Sorry, I forgot, it was not really the occult, it was the folk magic of the day ( D. Michael Quinn LOL ! )
Awesome references! Listing and linking to your sources, most people just make bald assertions on RUclips. This channel is sincerely a breath of fresh air. 👍👍👍 Edit; You should consider providing a link in your descriptions to, "Recovering from Religion", as well. Along with the other resources you have listed. Whether someone has a history of having been indoctrinated into the LDS Church, or any particular Church, in which they run a risk of disconnection or disxommunication by their former communities or especially their families by leaving their Church, or abandoning their beliefs for whatever reason, they often find themselves suddenly isolated and alone, without any kind of safety net. Organizations like Recovering from Religion, etc. are AMAZING resources for those people, a "ready-made" community of like-minded folks who will accept them for who they are despite their former religious beliefs. Mormonism is NOTORIOUSLY difficult to leave, it's fairly well-known. It's awesome that you link to some resources in your video descriptions, all I'm suggesting is one or two more that have proven themselves vital to the well-being of the segment of the former believing population who may find themselves needing such help and support themselves. Because a not-insignificant number of them WILL.
03:44 Notice the grand self-declaration that Joseph Smith, Sr. believes is sufficiently supported only by the fact that he has been pursuing his interest for 30 years (as if it is impossible that this would be true of any other person). Given the very similar self-aggrandizing statements that Joseph Smith, Jr. makes frequently over his lifetime, also based on very little substance, and to the point of having himself crowned King of the earth in 1844 and claiming to be greater than anyone since Adam, including Jesus and the Apostles, I think it is very safe to say that not only did the apple not fall far from the tree, but from a father's little seed of self-admiration a foul fruit was produced in his son.
Small thing idk if anyone else noticed this. But with headphones sometimes your voice seemed really loud and sometimes it was quiet for a short time like it fluctuated a bit. Idk
"Book of Mormon Translation" and "Was JS a Polygamist" rocked. Update this one to that format. Good info, but boring format. I think you need to decide on specific target audiences and formats for the different channels. I think this channel should be for younger audiences.
Money digging was so disreputable a hundred years before Smith did it that a young Ben Franklin condemned it. and, other than the Book of Mormon, supposedly, Smith never found any treasure, not once.
History is that which has happened. Religion is that which should happen. There's a wide separation between history and religion. Atleast that's this exmormon's conclusion. Left the church in 1970 when I was deacon corum president. One grandpa stake president, the other my Bishop. "People get it all wrong when they get wrapped up in history. They forget that it's only history and not religion at all. Same with all the other rules". What drove me away first was the constant reminding how chosen Mormons are. Things like holy underwear and the Golden Plates never cemented into making sense.
If for him it is easier to believe that, he has his right to believe that. But most people don't come to that conclusion once they figure out that the church has been hiding information about JS' life. Not just hiding but lying about it too. Personally I don't think God would be managing his church that way, very shady and deceiving.
You left out that he was prosecuted for fraud because of his treasure hunting scams and admitted to the judge in court that he had dishonestly deceived people for money.
This new channel should be called "John Dehlin vents after nearly 20 years of hoping." You say that your purpose isn't to create doubt and though you are speaking true history, I cannot help but notice a tone of doubt.
@@UnderstandingMormonism Rationally, I agree but by comparison, the video made on Mormon Stories posted 12 years ago called "Why People Leave the LDS Church ( Mormon )" had a very different tone (I would describe it as more curious or inquisitive) though it still touched on a great deal of similar history. Perhaps the good doctor has gradually changed his mission after all these years.
@@geoffreydowdle5751 The Mormon church has had decades to be forth right. They have instead continued with their lies and deception and ramped up the gas lighting, so the tone must change here too.
Geoffrey Dowdle it takes time to fully give up the life for some people. After investing so much you may want to see if you can change the problems and maintain your life....until you realize the church is never going to change until they need the money (which will be never!)
Yes and no... yes there is a state called New England, however the entire north east region at the time was also referred to as New England, often even today the area is referred to by locals as “the New England States”. I don’t recall however, off the top of my head, if all thirteen of the original colonies were considered New England ( or New England states), or just a portion of them. I’m sure this information could be found quite readily in a web search.
Nieldcreek no. It is certainly not normal usage to include New York, never mind Pennsylvania, as part of New England, and I doubt it ever has been. It certainly isn’t now. I know. I grew up in upstate New York. Even in Palmyra, no one calls it New England.
Brian Holly you are correct, the State of New York ( nor Pennsylvania)is not necessarily grouped with those other states. However, before they were states as you know they were colonies, and as such, at that time all of the thirteen colonies were commonly referred to as “New England”. I do indeed (in part) stand corrected, but I also stand freshly, if only slightly, brushed up on my history. It has been a while. Thank you for sharing in this discussion!
@@conductorsearle Instead of looking for faults, saying all manners of evil, against THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, why not take the time, to pray, to our HEAVENLY PARENT'S, to manifest the fullness and the truthfulness of, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS.
@@VAATAUSILI4139 Because I know that the Mormon cult is based on a false gospel invented by a conman. It’s a pay-to-play salvation scheme that is not even remotely Christian.
You left out a “Thank you“ to Kathleen Melonakos for her contributions through her book, ‘Secret Combinations...’ . She probably also deserves a bit of an apology from you for your cringe-worth bullying of her during the final part of her interview #997.
Great first episode, hopefully many more to come.
Rock in a hat, once grounds for excommunication if spoken of, is now church history.
Yes, the leaders were so obsessed to have the lay members believe that the rock in the hat was anti Mormon lies. This destroyed peoples lives. The church leaders are nothing short of a bunch of turds blocking a toilet bowl that seriously needs a good flush.
Accepting payment as a treasure seer = theft by deception. Not only was he a money digger, but also a thief.
Now if he had actually found valuable metals and treasure on a regular basis then he wouldn't be deceiving people nor swindling them out of their money. But at the same time, if he reliably found riches in the ground, he wouldn't need to go into that business to begin with. At least not for the purpose of making a living.
Treasure digging is such an obvious fraud. Paying someone to find actual treasure for you on your property!? Treasure that's worth magnitudes more than what you paid the seer to find? It's just too obvious.
I really think Joseph Smith, in his experience in selling this service to people, came to witness the true extent of peoples' gullibility. And when he produced the Book of Mormon, he knew he could persuade people to believe it was a real historical book about the Native American's ancient ancestors, because he had persuaded people on less.
@@ThomasJDavis Agree. Good analysis.
Nice episode John! Looking forward to future episodes!
Thanks, An!
Great inaugural episode! While I love the MS podcast, I think these smaller bites will be so helpful for people who are looking for immediate information as opposed to longer narratives. As someone who was always told to avoid that “John Dehlin guy... he’s just spreading false information”, I’m so glad I didn’t listen. One of the things I respect about you is your willingness to share information in a respectful manner. I also appreciate that you always say things like, “Don’t take my word for it. Check everything I say.” Looking forward to more episodes here!
Love this quick breakdown with so many sources. Love this format.
Love the new concise content
I really enjoyed this. Keep it up John!!!
I left in my childhood, long before I knew about any of this, shortly after I was baptized. Great content.
I really enjoyed the live stream today. It was we'll put together, and the slides were great. What JS said to Isaac Hale, in tears, is profound to the story. I wonder what actually pushed him to write the BoM, could it have been the discovery of a manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding with some of the BoM on it? I know that's unlikely but I'm curious if there was a trigger event that caused him to change his focus.
My thought on this is that the view of the Hebrews was published in 1823 and sold very well.... its interesting that Joseph likely heard of the success and coincidently in 1823 said the angel Moroni came to him about his own special “ancient” record. I think the thought of writing a book similar to Ethan Smiths View of the Hebrews has the potential to bring him all the riches he never found in the ground with his peep stone. Plus according to Grant Palmers book an insiders view to early Mormon origins, Joseph answers all of the great Universalist questions his father had along with all the other questions from other sects at the time. Joseph’s immature mind thought people would eat it up. Too bad he didn’t look in his peep stone first to see that it wouldn’t sell.... oh wait he never could see anything in the first place!
John I really liked this format, simple and easy to understand, referencing nothing but facts. I’m excited for more 👍🏽
Thank you, John!!
Love this channel. Thanks for the digestible, informative videos.
Good presentation John , I like that you don't come across as too "anti mormon" The treasure digging Prophet highlighted also ,the father, Joseph Smith senior was the instigator of the money digging . Father Smith is also accredited to being a story teller, treasure seeker , school teacher. The BofM began with Father Smith ( a Universalist) and I believe he actually worked with making wooden barrel casks with hoop iron and a mock set of golden plate.
Thank you Mark!
Fantastic episode John. I really like the logo you created. Any plans on making hats or shirts? I'd buy a hat if it just had the logo.
Hey, Kevin. Would love to catch up with you sometime. We went to seminary together. Message me if you care to relate
@@paradoxN0W sure thing. I tried sending a message but I didn't find a place on your account to send a message.
Commenting to boost engagement, keep up the good work!
I'm loving the new fact based, easy to follow channel. I sincerely admire your conviction for the truth.
Well done! Would live to see three more short, concise, and impactful videos...the first on the Book of Abraham, the second on BoM DNA, and the third on the First Vision controversy.
Wow. More please.
Good stuff! Keep em coming :D
I really enjoyed this format. Nice, concise, understandable. It is not condescending, which I think is really important for sharability. I look forward to future content.
So happy to hear this, Joshua!
I'm so happy and excited for this. Thank you John
Many years ago I pointed all of this out to some LDS missionaries but they dismissed it simply as anti -Mormon propaganda. Strange how the Church now admits some of this.
Thanks John! Great introductory video😃
Wow, thank you so much for this John! This is superbly concise and informative!
It would seem this sheds a light on the creation of many religions.
Wow. Great first episode. Love your new channel, I was in the first 1000 subscribers.
excited for this YT channel. subscribed and notifications are turned on.
I recently came out to family as a non-believer with the help of Gift of a Mormon Faith Crisis podcasts. When and if it's appropriate, how can we share this as a way of communicating with friends and family?
Congratulations!
Good luck!
Hi Ben, I was just talking to my wife about this. We, like you, just left Mormonism earlier this year. The problem is (and I experienced this first hand) is that when people are faced with evidence and facts that contradict their belief system the backfire theory kicks in strongly. Ultimately they will discard the facts and evidence and hold even more tightly to their original beliefs. Unless the person has some shelf items or cracks in the “armor of God” they will come up with the most ridiculous ways to explain the issues. While on our journey out of the church we actually brought 2 other families in our ward with us. The conversation with them started with, have you heard of the church’s new gospel topics essays??? If yes, it is a much easier conversation as a starter with the issues and opens the gate to sharing Mormon stories poscasts and now this wonderful new channel.
Sean McMaster Thanks for the insights. I think my family doesn't have a very nice opinion of John so I don't think it would be a good idea to start here. When they ask about what made me leave I invite them to read the gospel topics essays, click on all the footnotes and read those as well.
Hey Ben, I totally understand where you are coming from. I haven’t shared anything outside of gospel topics essays to family either because they are still very TBM. My wife actually lost her testimony first and continued to try and share this info with me. At first the backfire theory and cognitive dissonance was very strong and I went into super apologetic mode because I’ve always had a solid testimony. After a couple of months I could see the issues my wife had were not going away. I was then forced to do my own research to prove it was still true. After about 6 months of reading tons of books/articles/podcasts and everything in between about church history and doctrine, I was convinced it was not true. I had to at some point acknowledge I could be wrong and I think this is when facts and evidence started to take hold. It’s hard to deal with people who have an emotional connection to something unless they accept they could be wrong and that feelings can’t be the best way to determine if something is true or not. You have to live in reality at some point and acknowledge the church has been very deceitful. This is what hurt me the most when I realized the blatant lies and withholding of truth over the years from its members.
@@seanmcmaster2436 The backfire effect. Wow, it's so crazy to see in person. My wife is a TBM through, and through. And this is exactly what happened with her. Four years ago I told her I no longer believe, and gave some reasons, and that's all it took. She dove headfirst into the church and is deeper than ever. It's horrible.
This is interesting. A lot of it is hearsay, but I guess if you add it all up, it points to one direction.
John, great video! Keep them coming!
Great video john! Pirates wow
So much great information. Thank you thank you thank you!!’
Thanks for making this
I love seeing actual pictures of Martin Harris. Compared to "artist interpretations", it's not even close. While he may have been a good businessman, he was a loon, and totally looks the part. But that's not very "faith promoting" is it?
LMAO.
Bill W. from Ohio was a good businessman too. He was definitely a loon. But Bill founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. Looking at Martin Harris he resembles a number of us that still do meetings.
John, I think you did quite well. however, in an attempt to make it appeal a little more to those who are still not sure and even fill a little guilty for even searching for truth outside of the LDS approved materials, I think it would be more beneficial if you approached the evidence in a more neutral manner. What I mean as an example, at one point in you video you said “if you don’t believe me...” and then went on to give your evidence. Not that there is anything wrong with you or your evidence, just simply by method of the delivery, one may take offense by you saying “if you don’t believe me” because it almost sounds accusative as if you are already accusing them of their thoughts. This is only one example of the style that you used, and not a criticism of you personally. You asked for meaningful feedback, and that is what my comments here are, and I hope you will take it as such. I have followed many of your interviews on Mormon Stories for a few years now, and I appreciate them, as well as the way you go about just seeking the truth. I look forward to future episodes of your new RUclips channel, and I hope that they will be done in a humble manner for lack of a better word right now, because I have family that I can’t get through to right now because they are soo unsure and I presume filled with guilt for even thinking about questioning what they have been taught, family who I would love to say “hey, why don’t you check out this short video” and then send them to your videos. I’m rambling at this point, so I’ll just say thanks for all you have done. Though you don’t know it, your podcasts helped me through my struggles when my shelf broke. Thank you!!
That is super helpful feedback, Nieldcreek. Thank you. I will work on that...BUT IT'S DANG HARD!!!! :)
Um, I think John essentially did a good job at trying to present such incriminating information about Joseph Smith in a fair way...all things considering.
Great work John
Subscribed. Looking forward for your quality content on the subject of Mormonism. Thank you
I honestly find Joseph Smith much more interesting just as himself and not as a prophet or fraudster. Just as someone who had an interest in pirates, treasure hunting, and in the occult. Then he had to go ruin it and reach for more and more which led to forming the church.
He had to make a living somehow 😂
You're doing the lord's work exposing Joseph for the fraud he was. God bless you.
Great video! Excited to see more.
More to come! Thank you!!!
The church tried hard to portray Joseph Smith as a farmboy, pushing the narrative away from seer stone gazing and glasslooking. There is a common theme within the LDS church to present founding individual's vocations as nothing unusual. The transparency of the LDS church is at the least questionable.
Excellent first video. What does anyone know about the mystical chants surrounding money digging?
It’s my third!!!!
My uncle is a "local Mormon apologist", and he knows ALL of this LDS historical information. Whenever I share this kind of stuff with him, he snores and says it's old news. He asks me: "BUT does any of this this even matter? Can God still use Joseph Smith to do His work and save souls? Do prophets need to be 'perfect' in order to hear God's voice and revelations?" What do you say to that kind of response? Thanks
By your uncle's logic, you could say the same thing about Warren Jeffs, David Koresh or Jim Jones.
Comment for the algorithm
Thank you John Dehlin!!
Surely you are not trying to suggest that Joseph Smith who had his First Vision in 1820 would engage in occult practices like these. Sorry, I forgot, it was not really the occult, it was the folk magic of the day ( D. Michael Quinn LOL ! )
Awesome references! Listing and linking to your sources, most people just make bald assertions on RUclips. This channel is sincerely a breath of fresh air. 👍👍👍
Edit;
You should consider providing a link in your descriptions to, "Recovering from Religion", as well. Along with the other resources you have listed.
Whether someone has a history of having been indoctrinated into the LDS Church, or any particular Church, in which they run a risk of disconnection or disxommunication by their former communities or especially their families by leaving their Church, or abandoning their beliefs for whatever reason, they often find themselves suddenly isolated and alone, without any kind of safety net.
Organizations like Recovering from Religion, etc. are AMAZING resources for those people, a "ready-made" community of like-minded folks who will accept them for who they are despite their former religious beliefs.
Mormonism is NOTORIOUSLY difficult to leave, it's fairly well-known.
It's awesome that you link to some resources in your video descriptions, all I'm suggesting is one or two more that have proven themselves vital to the well-being of the segment of the former believing population who may find themselves needing such help and support themselves.
Because a not-insignificant number of them WILL.
Reddit brought me here
03:44 Notice the grand self-declaration that Joseph Smith, Sr. believes is sufficiently supported only by the fact that he has been pursuing his interest for 30 years (as if it is impossible that this would be true of any other person). Given the very similar self-aggrandizing statements that Joseph Smith, Jr. makes frequently over his lifetime, also based on very little substance, and to the point of having himself crowned King of the earth in 1844 and claiming to be greater than anyone since Adam, including Jesus and the Apostles, I think it is very safe to say that not only did the apple not fall far from the tree, but from a father's little seed of self-admiration a foul fruit was produced in his son.
Honestly, the grifting hijinks of Joseph Smith should be a comedic novel.
Small thing idk if anyone else noticed this. But with headphones sometimes your voice seemed really loud and sometimes it was quiet for a short time like it fluctuated a bit. Idk
I think I fixed this for the 2nd episode I just released. Let me know if I didn't. Thanks!
@@UnderstandingMormonism awesome I love the content keep it up
"Book of Mormon Translation" and "Was JS a Polygamist" rocked. Update this one to that format. Good info, but boring format. I think you need to decide on specific target audiences and formats for the different channels. I think this channel should be for younger audiences.
Was the Smith family also into water divining?
Why can’t you be a Mormon and not believe the Joseph Smith story ? It is a good church in so many ways.
Some, say all manner of evil, against THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, they doing it to JESUS.
Money digging was so disreputable a hundred years before Smith did it that a young Ben Franklin condemned it. and, other than the Book of Mormon, supposedly, Smith never found any treasure, not once.
Why doesn't he have a picture of some Mormon ancestors or some wives or missionaries up in that big wallspace over his left shoulder?
👋😀 hey John.
The cover up is the crime that was perpetuated for decades and is the stone that sunk the ship for me.
History is that which has happened. Religion is that which should happen. There's a wide separation between history and religion. Atleast that's this exmormon's conclusion. Left the church in 1970 when I was deacon corum president. One grandpa stake president, the other my Bishop. "People get it all wrong when they get wrapped up in history. They forget that it's only history and not religion at all. Same with all the other rules".
What drove me away first was the constant reminding how chosen Mormons are. Things like holy underwear and the Golden Plates never cemented into making sense.
If for him it is easier to believe that, he has his right to believe that. But most people don't come to that conclusion once they figure out that the church has been hiding information about JS' life. Not just hiding but lying about it too. Personally I don't think God would be managing his church that way, very shady and deceiving.
I fucking love your content. Do not ever use “truth seekers” as an opening even ironically though. It’s automatically discrediting
You left out that he was prosecuted for fraud because of his treasure hunting scams and admitted to the judge in court that he had dishonestly deceived people for money.
Prophet's of, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS: ADAM-MALACHI-JOSEPH SMITH-RUSSELL M. NELSON.
Crooks, fraudsters, and fossils.
This new channel should be called "John Dehlin vents after nearly 20 years of hoping." You say that your purpose isn't to create doubt and though you are speaking true history, I cannot help but notice a tone of doubt.
Knowing the history, how can one not doubt?
@@UnderstandingMormonism Rationally, I agree but by comparison, the video made on Mormon Stories posted 12 years ago called "Why People Leave the LDS Church ( Mormon )" had a very different tone (I would describe it as more curious or inquisitive) though it still touched on a great deal of similar history. Perhaps the good doctor has gradually changed his mission after all these years.
@@geoffreydowdle5751 The Mormon church has had decades to be forth right. They have instead continued with their lies and deception and ramped up the gas lighting, so the tone must change here too.
Geoffrey Dowdle it takes time to fully give up the life for some people. After investing so much you may want to see if you can change the problems and maintain your life....until you realize the church is never going to change until they need the money (which will be never!)
Joesph was a con man
Left CHRISTIANITY, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, refused to repent, from personal sins, but they can't leave the CHURCH alone.
Just a minor geographical point. New York is not in New England.
Yes and no... yes there is a state called New England, however the entire north east region at the time was also referred to as New England, often even today the area is referred to by locals as “the New England States”. I don’t recall however, off the top of my head, if all thirteen of the original colonies were considered New England ( or New England states), or just a portion of them. I’m sure this information could be found quite readily in a web search.
Nieldcreek no. It is certainly not normal usage to include New York, never mind Pennsylvania, as part of New England, and I doubt it ever has been. It certainly isn’t now. I know. I grew up in upstate New York. Even in Palmyra, no one calls it New England.
Brian Holly you are correct, the State of New York ( nor Pennsylvania)is not necessarily grouped with those other states. However, before they were states as you know they were colonies, and as such, at that time all of the thirteen colonies were commonly referred to as “New England”. I do indeed (in part) stand corrected, but I also stand freshly, if only slightly, brushed up on my history. It has been a while. Thank you for sharing in this discussion!
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, the (only) TRUE CHURCH.
Is that supposed to be a mic drop? Good God, you people are so incapable of critical thought.
@@conductorsearle Instead of looking for faults, saying all manners of evil, against THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, why not take the time, to pray, to our HEAVENLY PARENT'S, to manifest the fullness and the truthfulness of, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS.
@@VAATAUSILI4139 Because I know that the Mormon cult is based on a false gospel invented by a conman. It’s a pay-to-play salvation scheme that is not even remotely Christian.
@@VAATAUSILI4139 Also, maybe you should “seek a revelation” on the correct use of apostrophes.
@@VAATAUSILI4139 it is not speaking evil to call out a cult that is deceiving and fleecing people and claiming to do so in the name of Jesus.
CHRISTIANITY, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, started in the PRE-MORTAL LIFE.
John Dehlin & family, left CHRISTIANITY, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, refused to repent, from personal sins.
You left out a “Thank you“ to Kathleen Melonakos for her contributions through her book, ‘Secret Combinations...’ . She probably also deserves a bit of an apology from you for your cringe-worth bullying of her during the final part of her interview #997.
Bible, Book Of Mormon, D&C, PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, are Scriptures of, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS.
How much treasure did he find? Did he find ANY treasure at all?
What would you guess?
B-b-b-b-ut, he found gold plates! He said so!